Fi'zi:k Arione
By James Sharp

There are three areas of a bike that can make a ride... or ruin one. These are where you, the rider, contact the bike. Your hands, feet and butt need to be happy. This means good gloves, shoes and shorts, but also good grips or bar tape, pedals and saddle. Put a painful saddle on a bike and I don’t care if you have thousands of miles under your chamois, your ride will be a short, though memorable, one. Fi’zi:k entered the saddle business in 1996, designing saddles in the U.S. and having them made in Italy. The name is the phonetic spelling of physique. To this day, Fi’zi:k saddles are made by hand. Their saddles can be found under some of the world’s best riders, both off road and on. Their top-of-the-line road saddle is the Arione.

The Arione is unlike any saddle on the market for a couple of reasons. Rather than cutting the saddle back to allow for free thigh movement, Fi’zi:k instead came up with their Wing Flex system. The Wing Flex refers to a series of slots cut into the sides of the saddle. These slots are then filled with an elastomer-like material. This allows the saddle to be supporting all the way to the sides, but flexes enough to allow the freedom of movement that cycling demands. The other main stand out feature-and the one that I feel makes the saddle-is the extended length. The saddle is a full 30cm, just shy of 12inches, long. In fact is the as long the UCI allows. The rear of the saddle is extended to aid in climbing. The nose of the saddle is flattened and is wider. Overall the saddle is designed to allow the rider to shift positions, from sliding back to power up steep hills to a more forward position with aero bars, and still be comfortable. The titanium rails have 85mm of adjustability and the shell is carbon reinforced. Our test sample weighed in at 252.7grams.

I didn’t expect to feel any benefit from the extended tail of the saddle. I mean, who sits on their bike and goes, "You know the saddle is nice, but I feel like I am missing the back half the saddle." Not me, and even after using the Arione my other saddles don’t give me that feeling. However, while I am on the Arione, the benefit is tangible. The saddle feels more substantial. Sliding back a bit on long climbs is more natural. It really adds to the comfort level of the saddle. What you won’t see on the saddle is some sort of ergo cut-out. It doesn’t need one and is more comfortable without it.

The Wing Flex sides took some getting used to, and some time to break in. After some mileage (less than 20) the saddle moved more freely and really felt good. With 85mm of adjustment, it’s easy to find the right spot, fore and aft. The wider, flatter nose is especially nice if you run your bars much lower than your saddle.

Summary: Fi’zi:k makes nice saddles and the Arione is world class. In fact, I cannot remember riding a more comfortable road saddle, period. The only downside is that this is the only saddle that I can truly say is road only. With the pointed, extended tail getting off the back of the saddle in off road riding could be a very hazardous proposition. Fortunately, for mountain bikers there is the Gobi, which has many of the features found on the Arione, without the extended tail. If your biking is all on pavement, you owe it to yourself to try out the Arione. The Arione retails for $125.

James Sharp is a contributing editor for GearReview.com specializing in mountain biking.

For more information, contact:
Fi'zi:k
E-mail: fizik@fizik.it
www.fizik.com